(Clearwisdom.net) I am 73 years old this year. I started practicing Falun Gong in 1996. I am among the earliest of practitioners in Shiyan City. There were not many practitioners at that time and in the beginning there were only several. We wanted to learn the Fa together in the evenings but there was no place for group Fa study. Then, with my husband's support, I emptied one room and dedicated it for fellow practitioners to read Falun Gong books and do the exercises together. It was hot in the summer and I would turn on the electric fan, and in winter I would start a fire in the furnace beforehand and wait for fellow practitioners to come and warm up. Some fellow practitioners lived far away and I would ask them to stay and eat with my family. Day after day and year after year, I kept doing so. I treated fellow practitioners as my family members and we formed a unified, integrated body.
Later, because Falun Gong spread rapidly, our group practice site developed from several practitioners to several dozen practitioners and we formed several Fa study groups. In my group there were more than a dozen practitioners and we have been cultivating persistently.
My husband does not practice Falun Gong. Before I started practicing Falun Gong he had multiple illnesses and he needed to be hospitalized several times every year. Since I started practicing Falun Gong he rarely got sick. My husband is very supportive of my practice. Beside treating all the fellow practitioners warmly, he also goes out with me to distribute truth clarification materials about Falun Gong. During the period when the evil desperately persecuted Falun Gong, he went with me as usual to distribute truth clarification materials and to clarify the truth. Whenever he mentioned Falun Gong he was full of praise.
In May this year he suddenly sustained an electrical shock and was hospitalized for emergency treatment. My fellow practitioners all went to the hospital to see him. His hands, from his fingertips to his wrists, were all black; and above his shoulder to the top of his head was also all black. It was like he was wearing handcuff shackles and he looked disfigured (the doctor said it was because of the lack of oxygen). If it were an ordinary person, the consequences would be difficult to tell. But my husband was out of danger on the second day. Everybody said, "Because he is supportive of Dafa and he clarifies the truth, he was rewarded and Master saved him from the verge of death." This experience further strengthened my belief in Dafa and further strengthened my determination to practice Falun Gong.
Falun Gong practitioners form a whole integrated body and everybody will help whoever has difficulty. To read Falun Gong books one need to be literate. But I did not know any Chinese characters and I am old. Fellow practitioners warmly helped me and they taught me to read Falun Gong books, character by character. In the beginning I could not memorize what I was taught. A fellow practitioner said, "Let's read to our elder sister so she can listen. She is old and her memory is not good, we don't have to teach her to read." Another fellow practitioner said, "Dafa can open one's intelligence and wisdom. As long as she sincerely tries to read, Master will open her ability to memorize. We must believe in Master and believe in Dafa. Our elder sister will be able to read." Later, the fellow practitioners took turns teaching me to read and I earnestly tried to memorize with all my efforts; if I could not memorize the first time, I would try a second time, a third time, a fourth time, .... I tried memorizing repeatedly and I finally learned to recite Lunyu, Hong Yin, and some of Master's short articles; and I could follow other practitioners in reading through Zhuan Falun.
I persistently keep on doing well the three things that Master asked us to do: sending forth righteous thoughts; studying the Falun Gong books, and clarifying the truth. I would not let myself fall behind on any of them. The reason that I could do the three things well is because of the power of the whole integrated body. Master often taught us to elevate as a whole. Without the cooperation of the integrated whole body, there would not be my elevation today.
Recently I passed a big test of retribution of illness karma. I had a fever for several days. I felt uncomfortable and did not have any strength. I could not practice the exercises and I could not send forth righteous thoughts. I knew that there was something I did not do right in my cultivation and I had attachments which were taken advantage of by the evil. But at that time I had not figured out what the specific attachment was. Fellow practitioners all came to see me after they learned of my situation. They helped me by sending forth righteous thoughts in a group and reading Zhuan Falun to me, as well as new lectures, Hong Yin, etc.. and they helped me look for my attachments. With fellow practitioners' help, I found that I did not practice forbearance well. Recently, I was the scapegoat in a family conflict and I did not forbear; that had accumulated to date and resulted in my big tribulation. After I found the attachment and came to know about it, I suddenly felt a flush of heat flow circulating through my whole body and I felt immediate relief. All the bad things seemed to fly away from my body all of a sudden.
My passing this big test of retribution was all thanks to the guidance of Dafa and the help of fellow practitioners; and it was all because of the cooperation of the whole group.
Through this test I came to realize two points:
1. Dafa practitioners are a whole. No matter which practitioner has problems, other fellow practitioners should care about him and help him to resolve the problem according to the principles of Dafa. If something happens to one practitioner, it indicates that there are problems within the whole group. Many of our fellow practitioners are suffering persecution and they need help from fellow practitioners. If we do not offer our help and care promptly and if the retribution grows bigger, and if one cannot uphold his xinxing and cannot withstand the suffering anymore, he may develop thoughts of giving up practicing Falun Gong, and fall. If this happens, doesn't every practitioner have a responsibility? Dafa practitioners are a whole. During cultivation, his things are my things, and my things are also his things. Helping others is also helping oneself. To contribute to other fellow practitioners' cultivation is also to contribute to one's own cultivation.
2. Dafa practitioners should try to find the root cause as soon as interference happens during cultivation. Master taught us in Zhuan Falun, "Whenever there is interference of one kind or another in qigong practice, you should look for reasons within yourself and determine what you still have not let go." ( "Lecture Six" in Zhuan Falun, March 2000 translation version) Find out one's deficiency, come to understand the root cause, and the problem will be resolved right away. Do not take it carelessly when seemingly minor interference happens. If small interferences keep happening but are not dealt with, they can accumulate and form big tribulations that one cannot pass. Therefore, one should find the problem in time, understand the reason in time, and resolve it in time.
Due to my limited understanding in cultivation and because of my very limited literacy, my writing is not fluent. Fellow practitioners, please point out my deficiencies and correct me.